Walkers on Day 1 

I can’t believe another 3Day has come and gone again. They have all been incredible, and our fifth event was no exception. Thank you all for your kind words, your empathy and your stories, your well-wishes and good thoughts. Thank you to all of you who so generously supplied prizes for the contest. Thank you for spreading the word and sending your friends, and thank you for donating! There are so many good causes out there in need of support and I thank you so much for sharing what you could with this one, particularly during such tough and uncertain financial times. You all were a big part of this event and it’s preparations this year and I won’t forget it. I put all your names on my banner, and had so many people ask me about “The Knitters”. And I carried your stories in my heart and the names of your friends and loved ones as well - along with my aunt and my mom (whose picture comes with me in my event credential).

You all raised $1446 just from this raffle, and Tad and I combined raised nearly $5000 through other sources. Our team raised over $42,000, and the whole event with about 3000 walkers (and an incredible number of crew and volunteers to support us) raised $7.3 million dollars(!!!). In my work life, I am on the financial side of healthcare, so while I know that that is more money than we could ever dream of personally, in the costly world of healthcare and research that is exactly the kind of sum that is needed to make a difference. And I am so proud to have been a part of that (and you all should be too!) I’d like to share a few words from a 2007 event walker to her teammates which one of the team captains was kind enough to share with all of us - it really brings the point home.

“To my dedicated 3-dayers — walkers, crew and training helpers,
Tomorrow begins another 3-day journey. We have all spent months working towards our goals — some to walk 60 miles and some to support those walking 60 miles. The journey is long and both mentally and physically difficult. It can take sheer will and determination just to take another step at times. During those times, when you find it difficult, I wanted to give you a few things to think about:

Without routine mammograms, my tumor would have been missed.
Without ultrasound guided biopsies, they would not have known my tumor was cancer.
Without contrasting MRI, they would have never known there was a second tumor and odd cells in my other breast.
Without the sentinel lymph node biopsy during a mastectomy, they would not have known if the cancer had spread (it didn’t)
Without thin slice pathology, they would never have found tumor 3, 4 and 5 or that they were ER/PR positive, stage 1-2 and 3 forms of cancer
Without Genomic Health’s Oncotype DX test, they would have put me through aggressive chemo
Without hormone therapies, they would have given me a 70% survival rate for 5 years
Without you, I wouldn’t be alive in 5 years

At some point, every test, procedure or drug I have taken was new. It came to life as a result of research that was funded through events like the 3-Day. So, when the time comes, and we all know it does, where we question whether it is worth it — the answer is “Yes!” “

Thank you - all of you - for all of your warm support and for being a part of this.

Information on the usage of your donation funds can be found at the following links:

http://www.nptrust.org/about_npt/BC3Day.asp
http://cms.komen.org/Komen/GrantsProgram/ResearchGrants/index.htm

(an aside about Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the primary beneficiary of the event - The reason I choose to support this organization each year is that every advancement in the field of breast cancer treatment and research in the last 25 years has been funded at some point through them and would not have been possible without it. That’s powerfully persuasive.)

Mugging & dancing for the camera up the big hill into camp

I’ve spoken about Tad and I here and our reasons for walking, but I haven’t yet mentioned our amazing team. We started walking with a small group of other folks in 2004 who didn’t have teams of their own, and we banded together - we got so close on those first 3Days that we coined the term “3Day fam” to describe each other. Some walked in other cities during the following and rejoined us again (a couple of our members are walking in Philly this weekend, if you are anywhere near, check it out, you won’t be sorry!), some have crewed or cheered in off years, but most of the original crew was back this time - along with several more members that have joined us along the way. Our Sis joined us in our second year and has continued to walk with us each year since - Last year, my good friend Catherine walked with us; and this year, she and her husband and new baby (yes, she is the mom of the Sweet Soon To Be) made the trip from Raleigh on Saturday morning to cheer us all on. Each of these people, those from our lives who joined forces with us and those that we never would have met without this event - are all amazing. I wish I could take some time to tell you a little bit about each of them - but it would take me about 20 posts to do that. Suffice it to say that they all bring their own awesome strengths to the group, they all walk for their own reasons, they all inspire me in so many ways. We walked, laughed, cried, sang and danced our way through another 60 miles - and there’s no way I could do it without them. They’re some of the best friends I’ve ever had. They’re family.

The weather this year was amazing. In years past we have battled over 100 degree heat, fading hurricanes with lots of rain, and even wore space blankets a couple times, but this year’s weather was the best we have ever had for an event and we were so thankful. The mornings were bright and chilly, and there was always a cool breeze when the air did warm up. Perfect for camping!

Getting scanned out on a chilly Day 2, bright and early; Camp with it’s sea of pink tents

The remembrance tent. We go here for some quiet moments to think about those people that we miss and record their stories.

Practice for opening ceremonies

The ceremonies were very emotional. One thing that I love about the opening ceremonies is that instead of having a moment of silence to remember those who are no longer with us and think about our reasons for walking, we are asked to call their names aloud. And the chorus is powerful. Click here for a link to a participant’s YouTube video of the ceremony. Even though I’ve heard the words and was there, I can’t watch it without getting emotional. Carrying the flags was amazing - I was excited and honored to do so, but it also meant we got to lead off the walk - Tad, myself, several of our teammates, and some other amazing walkers who we had just met - I can’t explain it, but it completely filled my heart.

Tad’s carrying “Turning Points”, I’m carrying “Strength”

And Closing! The closing cermoney is just as powerful.

The one shoe salute to survivors

Another 60 miles completed with our awesome team

Now, you might think that with all that walking, I wouldn’t have been able to get any knitting in…

But how could I miss out on Kirsten’s fun Socktober project?!

Ok, all of you contest winners, I have a confession to make. I had NO idea yesterday was a holiday. Imagine my frustration at arriving at the post office with a huge bucket load of packages and finding the post masters doors locked! (We still celebrate Columbus Day? huh.) It’s all good, the packages were dropped this afternoon instead (albeit later than I had intended). Please let me know when you receive them so I don’t worry. On a side note, I hadn’t really expected the contest to get as big as it did with as many prizes, and I’ve been having some guilty twinges about all the transportation involved - I’m looking into carbon credit options to offset the shipping impact to see if that’s feasible.

Also, this was my first time running a raffle of this scale and I’m sure that there is room for improvement - I’d love your feedback on the whole thing - raffle, prizes, emissions in case I decide to do this again (the contest, not the walk, I am most definitely walking!)

Thank you all from my heart! You are all amazing.

I am still a bit behind, but beginning to catch up - Thank you all so much for your kind words and your patience! 3Day post and pictures will follow soon, but I didn’t want to delay posting the contest winners any longer. All winners (courtesy of the random number generator) are up on the 3Day page and I am working on contacting everyone. THANK YOU SO MUCH for all your support!

Just a very quick note to say THANK YOU for all your kind words and thoughts - we’re back safe and it was amazing (particularly so this year for many reasons). Recovery is taking a little longer than planned - I got pretty woozy on day 3, and though structurally I think I’m fine, I was miserable with headaches and nausea yesterday. Feeling a bit better today, just exhausted. I am going to delay the drawing for a few more days while I get caught up and make sure all donations and entries are properly accounted for, please bear with me! I expect to do the drawing Friday and mailings Saturday. Thanks all, so much - your support was incredible and I had lots of people ask me about my banner and all the knitters!!  More soon, I have so many pictures and stories to share.

Have you ever been totally overwhelmed by someone’s kindness? Feeling like there aren’t any words to tell this person what it means to you but you have to try - and it never really expresses the heart of it or gets your point across, or much worse, comes across sounding trite. And you can see that they don’t even need you to tell them anyway, they aren’t looking for your thanks, because it’s a sincere expression of human generosity & kindness - it’s no big thing to them, because it’s just who they are. Seriously. I have had this experience so many times over the past few weeks and it has left me pretty much speechless. These last prizes are no exception.

Two lovely coordinating skeins of Harmony from Kim at The Woolen Rabbit - 425 yards each of superwash Merino/nylon sock yarn in colorways Burnished Oak, and Brick House.

From Cosy of CosyMakes, two signed copies of her wonderful book Knit One, Embellish Too.

From an old friend, Melissa Goodale of Stick Chick Knits, several copies of her fingerless mitts patterns, Violeta and Prickly. Mel’s best friend just lost her mom as well - these have been donated in memory of Lynn.

For details on the contest and cause, click here.

We leave tomorrow morning for DC - to arrive in time for a rehearsal for the Opening Ceremonies - Tad and I have been asked to carry flags at the ceremony that kicks off the event early Friday morning along with some of our awesome teammates. We were really honored to be asked and it has only heightened our excitement for the event this year. But we won’t get there if we don’t get packing!!! Thanks for reading and for all your support. I’ll be back early next week with a full report.

11 Days and counting!! We are close enough to have a preliminary weather forecast (which looks amazing so far!!) 11 days until what? Read up here!

You all have given me so many more reasons to walk this year with your stories of your loved ones and friends - And every one emphasizes to me exactly why we do this; no one should have to go through what your friends and family have gone through. No one should have to go through what my mom went through. And no one should have to live in fear of this disease.

Just last weekend, I had to add yet another reason to the growing list, sadly another reason that hits close to home. My aunt was just diagnosed with breast cancer; she is one of my mother’s younger sisters. And though she sounds good (she’s strong, like my mom), I can’t imagine her perspective as she goes through this, after what her own mother went through (who survived the disease), and her older sister (who did not). Sigh. I’m sorry all - it is heavy stuff. But you all know that of course. Now I’m walking for my aunt as well, hoping for good physicians, speedy healing, no mets and a healthy future for her. And for her family, because I remember how I felt when my mom was first diagnosed. And for my mom’s youngest sister too, who’s feelings I also can’t fathom (she is now the only female in two generations of this family who has been clear to date). I’m walking for their daughters, and yes, for myself as well -  in hopes that we won’t ever have to face this ourselves.

So, putting the focus back on the positive, on the fundraising! Which is how we will fund better prevention, better treatments, and a CURE, I have another prize posting for you, slightly overdue as many of these arrived just prior to or over our vacation (with my apologies to the donees for the delay in getting these up!)

A decorative spindle made and stained by Teri of Confessions of a Fiber Drunk! Teri is one of my spinning idols, so I’m so pleased to put this up. Although I am a bit of a klutz with a spindle, it spins very smoothly!

There was no way to possibly do this one justice in one photograph! An Absolutely Fabulous hand-dyed Throw Kit from Colinette in colorway Wild One. Eight bright, beautiful skeins of contrasting yarn and a pattern including six different throw designs. Generously donated by my friend Mel of Girl Eats Soup, who lost her mom too. In memory of Carole Nicholson, who is deeply missed.

Princess Pea has generously donated a skein of Malabrigo Lace (Now I finally understand why it’s referred to as Mmmmmalabrigo!) 470 yards/50g of luscious baby merino wool in colorway Forest. Gorgeous.

A hand-tied lap quilt with wonderful wool batting from the local Border Leicester sheep of Humbug Farm. So snuggly and warm! Kate’s been kind enough to provide instructions for all-natural cleaning and care of her hand-crafted quilt.

Thank you all for these amazing prizes - I am so pleased to offer these up! Our running knitter’s tally is $1116 with 11 days left until the event and 13 until the contest closes. Can we raise a few hundred more?? And is this the last prize posting?? It could be, though there may be some last minute surprises - you’ll just have to check back and see!

It’s day nine of September, we’re just shy of a month away from our walk. I have been close to tears (and in full throttle) many times lately - overwhelmed by kind emails, comments, and notes from my donation page (all of which have just appeared tonight on my report - due to a glitch in the website your lovely notes weren’t showing before, but now they are and that started a whole new set of sniffles), your donations, and links, and prizes… Your generosity, your kindness, your words (and you and you and you and all of you that I’ve not linked but who have so kindly spread the word as well - don’t worry, you are all on my list for the special raffle!). You’re all amazing. Thank you (and that’s not nearly enough to tell you how I feel). You’ve helped me raise a total of $950(!) of my total as of this afternoon. Please keep spreading the word - I couldn’t have guessed we would raise that much, and there are still almost four weeks to go!

More prizes, my friends. And a word about my mom, because I can’t resist - She would have totally dug all this!! The indie dyer scene, the environmental slant that many independent and established yarn companies are taking, the creativity, the home-grown businesses, the crafters and artisans, the shared camaraderie and support - all of you and your generousity. I know you have all donated for your own compelling reasons, but I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.

Earthly Hues Vines yarn in colorway Butter - 850 yards of 100% merino laceweight - So SOFT and lovely. Tricia uses natural dyes, many made from plants grown in her own garden!

From Susan of Susan’s Pointy Sticks - 4 oz. of hand-dyed merino roving. A colorway called “Charlotte” in honor and in memory of a dear friend’s mother (hugs to you Susan, and to your friend).

Also, through October 3 Aunt Kathy will be donating proceeds from the sales of the sweet dishcloth she designed for the cause. Thank you Kathy!

If you are just joining us, click over to my 3Day Contest Page for complete details - these prizes and the running “knitter’s tally” of the fundraising dollars will be added as well. Thank you all again, so much.

Edited to Add:

I’ve consolidated all the contest information - rules, prizes, etc. on the “Breast Cancer 3Day” tab above, so you can get all the info in one place. This page will be updated with new prizes as they come in and any additional information and updates!

 **************

This last week and a half has been completely overwhelming with all the unexpected support for this contest! I’m here with another round of prizes to offer for donations made to my 3Day walk to support breast cancer research, education, screening and treatment. And yes, there is STILL at least one more round forthcoming! Just a reminder, as I need some help giving away all these awesome prizes, there will be a special drawing for a $30 gift certificate to the online merchant of your choice held for all the folks who help me to spread the word about this contest by linking in and sending people over!

I’m so pleased to offer this lovely yarn from a member of our local spinning guild. Two very generous skeins (370 yds each) of dark gray sport-weight shetland wool from the local sheep of Avillion Farm, donated in loving memory of Coyla.

Green Mountain Spinnery’s Mountain Mohair - Two 140 yard skeins of the very appropriate colorway Pink Pink, and a Green Mountain Spinnery tote bag.

 A beautiful knitting needle roll custom made for you by master seamstress Katrin of Sew-Mad - your choice of color and size from travel size to 15-circular needle size. More photos can be seen here.

Many, many thanks to Elaina, Green Mountain Spinnery, and Katrin for their generous support of this raffle and helping to drum up interest and donation support with these great prizes. My fundraising total is $1300 as of today, and you all are responsible for half of those total dollars. I think what’s so awesome about this is that the bulk of that money is coming from people I’ve never met. I thank you all for your generosity toward this cause which is so near to my heart. Thank you for your emails and your support and your stories.

You can be eligible to win these and the other great prizes that have already been posted by making a donation to my 3Day walk by clicking the link in the sidebar to the left. Every $10 donated buys one “chance” or ticket in the drawing, which will be held on October 7, when we return from our walk. Thanks all - you just rock!!

Wow. I am overwhelmed! What started with one tentative little email brought 3 boxes of goodies to my doorstep this afternoon from friends old and new who have generously donated their wares to support my Breast Cancer 3Day fundraising contest. I am so thrilled to be able to offer these prizes as incentives to donate to this great cause (if you’re just joining us, please read up here and here - I will consolidate all this info for ease of use soon!

So, without further ado - the new prizes!!

 The Sanguine Gryphon Eidos - 390 yards of gorgeous handpainted superwash sock yarn. You all know I’m a huge fan of Gryphon’s gorgeous colorways. Beautiful no?

A handcrafted pottery yarn bowl from The KnitWitch. Beautiful and SO much better than letting the yarn dance around your lap and occasionally to the floor as you knit and tug from the ball (or is that just me?)

A handcrafted pottery spindle bowl, also from The KnitWitch. This lovely spindle bowl is for use with Tibetan or Russian spindles, or other types of wood supported spindles. Both bowls have felted bases to protect your tabletops.

Nancy’s Knit Knacks Easy Lace Scarf Kit, including 2 skeins (260 yards) of heathered Digit fingering weight wool yarn in Wisteria, and a lovely lace scarf pattern.

Nancy’s Knit Knacks knitting tools. Amazing. I could not fit them all in the photo, so here’s a list of all the great knitter’s tools Nancy has donated!

1 Knee-sel (like a copy holder for your knee - ingenious!)
1 set circular needle ID tags, small
1 set circular needle ID tags, large
1 Needle and Crochet Hook Gauge
1 Knit-Kard set (handy reference cards for knitters)
1 Knit-Light
1 Project Kard set of 10
1 Set of 2 DPN WIP Tubes
1 WPI Tool Kit

I may keep this one together as the ultimate knitter’s tool kit, or break it up depending on the final number of donors, Nancy was extremely generous!

Thank you Gryphon, Brittany and Nancy, for your generous donations - I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your support of this little contest and this cause that is so near to my heart! And all of you who have donated so far, commented, emailed and linked to this contest - You all are amazing! Your donations are going to support such a great cause, and your kind words of support mean more than you could possibly know. THANK YOU!!

I’m debating how best to handle consolidating the contest information - i.e. rules, prizes, and donation info, so it is easier to find and isn’t scattered across several posts (YES, that means there are MORE prizes on the way soon, I can hardly believe it!!) I will probably set up a page like last year, but I also haven’t figured out how to archive that information and still make it available. So that may take me a few days - please bear with me while I work this through. This contest already dwarfs the mini-one that I had last year and I don’t quite know what I’m doing! And there will be actual knitting content soon - the Sweet-Soon-to-be made her debut this week, and though her little sweater isn’t *quite* complete, after meeting her today I’m quite sure she’s got some growing to do before she’ll fit into it, so that buys me just a bit more time!

Ok folks, I could really use your help! It started with a little email to a friend to see if she would be willing to donate another prize to my 3Day contest fundraiser**. Then, because her response was so swift and kind, I started sending more emails, and well, as you know, yarnies and knitters are a very generous sort and now it seems that there are a few additional gorgeous prizes on the way! I’ll wait and post about them as they arrive just to keep a little suspense, but I’m so excited to show you all!!

Although I’d love for everyone who donates to win one of these great prizes, at this moment it almost would be possible for one person to win them all - That seems to take some of the chance and fun out of it, don’t you think? So, would you all do me an ENORMOUS favor, if you’d be willing, and help me spread the word about this little fundraiser? Our readerships combined would let a whole lot more people know about this than I could ever tell on my own, and help raise a whole lot more money for the cause. So many people’s lives have been impacted by breast cancer in one way or another. In thanks for helping me to get the word out, I will hold a special drawing for those of you who share the news by linking in - if you want to help, but can’t donate, you can still participate and help the cause!! And if you donate AND link, you’ll be eligible for both drawings! Now, since I want to make this second drawing tempting to a wide variety of knitters, no matter your taste…. I’ll pony up $30 for a gift certificate to the online vendor of your choice for the prize in this category. Email me (mel*at*purlingplans*dot*com) or leave a comment to let me know and I’ll pop your name in the hat for this drawing. What say you??

This’ll be me in 7 weeks!!

(picture me walking though, not standing at a stoplight, ok?)!! 

**if you missed the post about the contest and fundraiser, just scroll down or click here.

So.

This post has been difficult for me to write this year (more so than usual). The letters to friends and family and previous sponsors have been just as hard.  Grief works in strange ways, as many of you can attest to, I’m sure. So, please bear with me - and if you have no need for a rather personal, fundraising post, please pass on by - no offense taken, come on back in a few days and I’ll have some knitting content. And if you’re just here for the possibility of free yarn, well that’s ok too just scroll on down till you see the pics & you’ll find it.

Ready? Ok.

On October 3 outside of Washington D.C., Tad and I will walk 20 miles to support Breast Cancer Research, Education, Screening, and Treatment. On October 4, we will wake up and do it all over again. And on October 5th, we’ll take a couple ibuprofen and walk another 20, just for good measure.

It will be hard - my feet and joints will hurt. There will likely be blisters. Blisters always hurt a lot more than you think they would.

Miles will be walked ahead of time and the yoga commitment will be renewed and efforts redoubled.

I will walk as I have 4 times over (that’s 300 total event miles and countless training miles) - and I will not complain when it gets hard. The whole point of it is that it’s tough. 60 miles is no slouch. Each time I say that, I know that it’s true - this is the most demanding physical effort that some of us as participants will ever do, but it honestly seems like a rather inappropriate dramatization at the same time.  It’s not chemo. It’s not surgery. It’s not losing a part of your body that you used to feed your child. It’s not wasting away and it’s not watching your life and those you love slip away from you. Walking won’t find a cure, research will. And research is expensive.

The good news (and it is good news!) is that many advances in treatment have been made through research, and will continue to be made with the support of fundraising efforts like these.

My 3Day journey began in 2004 after an amazing woman succumbed to breast cancer - an amazing woman that happens also to have been my mother, Linda Chase. Shortly after, I walked my first 60 miles, and began, little by little, to heal. I began to see things differently. I began to hope and I began to believe. If that sounds a bit evangelistic, it is. Describing the 3Day is impossible - but these posts from last year and the videos on the3Day.org will give you a taste - and may leave you a little emotional. I walk in the 3Day because it’s my opportunity to support the fight against this disease by raising money for research, education, screening, and treatment. It’s my opportunity to remember the awesome woman who gave me life - to celebrate her and to share a little bit of her and her love. I walk in memory and celebration of the loved ones and friends of my supporters. And I walk in hope, in the belief, that the money we raise WILL help to find the cure.

Still with me? Thank you! Here’s your reward

I’m holding a contest to support my walk and fundraising efforts for the Breast Cancer 3Day, with a couple of pretty cool prizes - hopefully you’ll think they’re cool anyway! I like them, but that’s kind of a given since it’s my contest, eh?

Prizes:

1 copy of Poems of Color - Knitting in the Bohus Tradition by Wendy Keele (someday I will tell you all how I came by 2 copies of this book - I have heard that Interweave may be reprinting it in the near future, but for now it is still rather tough to get your hands on one):

2 skeins (1000 yards - enough for a beautiful shawl, or a sweater!) of Brooks Farm Primero - 100% kid mohair, silky & soft, in colorway 47 a beautiful blue-green-grey-gold:

Following the tried and true method of some other bloggers, you will “earn” one chance to win for every $10 you donate (please leave me a comment below or email me at mel*at*purlingplans*dot*com to let me know you have donated - I will receive confirmation from my 3Day website, but this way I will know that you came from this post and be sure to put your name in for the contest) - Your donation dollars go to support breast cancer research, education, screening and treatment initiatives funded by Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the National Philanthropic Trust. All donations are tax deductible - you may donate through the crazy pink button in my sidebar to your left or via this link.

The contest will run through the weekend of the event (October 3-5), and the drawing will take place when we return home on Tuesday, October 7.

Happy Birthday Mom. You are missed, so much.

my brother, mom, Tad & I - Pemigewasset Wilderness, NH, Winter 2002

Thank you for reading.